On Wednesday, a Coast Guard diver was lowered from a helicopter in a brave attempt to save a driver trapped in a car teetering at the edge of Niagara Falls, only to learn she had already died.
According to videos shared on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, the 66-year-old woman was caught in her car about 50 yards from the edge of the Falls for almost two hours in freezing temperatures and precipitation. It was near Prospect Point, New York, on the American side.
Coast Guard diver pulls dead woman's body from car
Officials reported at a later press conference that the woman was not moving when they got on the scene about 1 pm. A Coast Guard man was able to drop on a wire from a helicopter just south of the vehicle, break down the motorist's passenger-side door with an ax, and transfer the lifeless remains from the car into the helicopter.
The United States Coast Guard Great Lakes later verified her death. The victim was a 66-year-old woman from the neighborhood, Park Police told WHAM. It's unknown whether she drove into the freezing water by mistake or on purpose from the bridge at Goat Island.
Crews were attempting to recover the vehicle from the Falls as of 2 pm, but they stated they don't believe it has any evidential value. Witnesses reported seeing the automobile go into the water between the pedestrian and vehicle bridges at Goat Island shortly before State Park police received complaints at approximately noon about a car drifting down the river and becoming trapped on some rocks, according to a news conference held after the event.
The river water was pouring over the top of the windshield when officials arrived, and the current had reached the bottom of the vehicle's side windows. Bystander photos and videos showed the car almost totally buried in the early afternoon, with just a portion of the roof and an open trunk hatch visible through the whitewater, while roads remained slick owing to the cold winter and temperatures in the mid-20s.
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New York Governor was saddened by the loss of life
The Park Police deployed a drone to check how many people were in the car and try to collect a license plate number as they waited for the Coast Guard helicopter to arrive. They learned she was the only one in the automobile at the time, and they suspect she was driving it when it crashed into the lake.
According to the Niagara-Gazette, when the Coast Guard began their attempted rescue, the New York Power Authority reduced water flow on the Falls to aid the rescue attempts.
Rola will not reveal the victim's name until her family is informed of her death on Wednesday afternoon. The New York State Park Police are still investigating the incident.
A Niagara County sheriff's helicopter and dozens of police officers and firemen remained on the scene Wednesday afternoon. A state parks officer was observed putting on diving gear at one point, according to Syracuse.com, though the area was still cordoned off. Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, expressed her gratitude for the rescue crews in a tweet Wednesday afternoon, saying she was "saddened by the devastating loss of life."
